Yiğit Günel, Creative Director & Photographer

Creative Director & Photographer · London

Portrait-led
visual work
for brands &
publications

Cannes Lions Bronze Medal · 2011
Crystal Apple 1st Prize · 2016

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Curated
Projects

15 years of international campaigns and editorial commissions. Every image made to hold more than surface.

London-based.
Portrait-driven.
Internationally active.

I'm Yiğit Günel, creative director, photographer, and founder of Cult Studio. I make portrait-led work for brands and publications, with a focus on clear visual storytelling. My practice spans photography, creative direction, and motion, shaped by what the brief needs and what will serve the story best.

15
Years active
2
Major awards
30+
Global clients
UK & Int'l
Availability

My earliest understanding of photography came from my father’s darkroom. In its darkness, images slowly appeared from almost nothing, revealing details that had already existed but had gone unnoticed. That experience continues to shape the way I work. Photography, for me, is a form of observation: a way of standing just outside a moment and looking closely at the people, gestures and relationships within it. I am interested in the spaces people create around themselves, the ways they belong to groups and places, and the subtle exchanges that reveal something about a wider culture. Whether photographing a portrait, a gathering or a community, I am less interested in describing what something looks like than in understanding what is happening beneath the surface. The camera remains a kind of camera obscura: a small, quiet space from which I can observe the world, question it, and make connections between individuals and the environments they inhabit.

Selected Exhibitions
  • On The Road, Versus Arts, London, 2026
  • Capital of Loneliness, Bursa International FotoFest, 2026
  • Selfhood, Versus Arts, London, 2025
  • New Photography, Alan Istanbul, 2015
Selected Talks
  • Cult Creative Meet-ups, ongoing monthly, 2024 - 2026
  • The Photographic Aproach, EOG University, 2026
  • Where to Start?, Medipol University, 2022
  • Storytelling Through Photography, Istanbul Bilgi University, 2017
Publications
  • Photographing a Rebellion, Ozcan Yurdalan
  • Moscow Diary, self-publication
  • Beyoglu Photographs, Photography Foundation
Yiğit Günel
Disciplines
Photography · Creative Direction · Motion
Awards
Cannes Lions Bronze Medal (2011)
Crystal Apple 1st Prize (2016)
Editorial
GQ · Red Bull · Skylife · Elle Decor · Brava Casa
Agencies
Ogilvy · BBDO · McCann · Y&R · TBWA · Cheil
Base
London, UK · Available worldwide
Vodafone
Samsung
Beko
Ogilvy
BBDO
McCann
GQ
Red Bull
Mr. Start
Univ. Greenwich
KFC
Pip & Nut

Cult Studio
a creative
solutions company

Cult is a creative solutions company focused on visual storytelling. We help brands build or reshape their stories through photography, motion, and creative direction — collaborating with specialist talent to bring ideas to life in meaningful, inspiring ways. Humble, yet sleek.

Visit Cult Studio →
Cult Studio